I Knew You (Once Upon A Dream)
by snowwalking
Summary: Emma and Henry Swan are driving home from a weekend away when they both get the inexplicable feeling that they have forgotten something. Meanwhile the residents of the Storybrooke watch Henry and Emma drive away before they are swept back to Fairy Tale Land by the purple cloud. Once there they must work together to remind Emma and Henry of who they really are.


**This idea popped into my head when I was thinking about the year that everyone will spend separated from one another. It's going to be a slow burner but I promise that Swan Queen will happen eventually.**

**Please leave reviews, I love to hear what you guys have to say.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT or any of its characters.**

Emma's attention was drawn by a movement in the rear view mirror and she quickly looked up; she was sure she saw a face but the moment she attempted to focus her vision it had gone. On returning her eyes to the road she had a sudden sense that something had changed; a sudden desire to turn around and travel back the way she had come. Emma looked over at her son who was smiling, happily bobbing his head along to the radio when his face quickly dropped and he turned to her with his brow furrowed.

'Ma, we've got to go back.'

'Kid, we've been driving for over an hour, what could you possibly need to go back for?' The words felt foreign on her tongue, like someone else was speaking for her, she knew that they had been driving for a while but it felt like they had been in the car for mere moments.

'I don't know exactly, I just, I feel like I've forgotten something.'

Emma ran a hand through her hair and sighed because she knew just what he meant.

'How about I pull over and you look through the bags to see if you can find what you're looking for?'

'But I don't know what I've lost; please can we just go back?' Henry gripped onto his knees. Emma could tell that he felt as confused as she did, like something was missing. Where the feeling had come from she couldn't say but in that moment she knew that they needed to go back. She had an inexplicable feeling that she had left something behind.

'Okay kid, yeah, we'll go back. You had better find something though.' Emma smiled at him.

**SQSQSQ**

Regina allowed a tear to fall as she watched the yellow bug drive away, taking with it the boy she loved more than anything in all of the realms and the woman for whom she had feelings she didn't understand. Before she was able to come to terms with the gravity of the situation, the purple cloud engulfed the group and Regina felt the now all too familiar sickening lurch in her stomach. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath to calm the waves of nausea as her stomach lurched for a second time; whether from the realm jumping or the realisation that she was leaving her son behind in a world that she had grown accustomed to she could no longer tell. After a final jolt her stomach suddenly settled and her feet felt firm on the ground. There was no longer a wind and the chill she had felt in her bones moments earlier was gone. Before she dared open her eyes she felt a slim hand slide into her own and squeeze gently. She wanted to pull away from the touch. She didn't think she should be allowed the pleasure of human contact and kind gestures; after all, it was her fault that they were in this situation. The simple gesture had however opened the gateway she had tried to close on her emotions. Before she could steel herself against the pain she turned towards the person whose hand she held. She wrapped her arms tightly around the slim frame and buried her hands in the satin gown that had obviously replaced a winter coat. She sobbed into the neck of her former enemy, a woman she was once hell bent on destroying, the only woman who understood the pain that she was going through. The two women held each other and sobbed for their lost children. When their legs could no longer hold them they collapsed to the ground, still gripping onto one another, and allowed the emotion to flow out of them before they attempted to deal with the situation.

When Regina could breathe again she pulled out of Snow's embrace and stood; her emotional mask was already in place by the time Snow had also raised to her feet. Regina took in the features of the room they were standing in and realised that it was a nursery, Emma's nursery. The curse had taken them back to exactly where they were when it had been cast. When Regina turned to see Charming standing by the door of the nursery she breathed a sigh of relief as she realised that although they had been sent back to where they were they had not been sent back in the condition that they were in when they left.

'I have to go.'

Snow looked uncomprehendingly at Regina.

'What do you mean go?'

'I don't belong here. I put everyone through 28 years of pain and now that we're back here, in the Enchanted Forest, they are going to want their revenge. I will go to my castle and accept whatever punishment deemed necessary by Your Highnesses.' Regina went to walk out of the room but a hand on her arm stopped her.

'Regina, we weren't in pain for 28 years. You put us through hell before we came to Storybrooke and after Emma broke the curse you didn't make our lives easy but for 28 years we were happy. Many of us shared that happiness with the wrong people but we got on well enough nonetheless. Charming and I are not going to issue you a punishment.'

'I don't deserve your forgiveness, Snow.'

'Oh Regina I know you don't and you do not have it. You do not have my forgiveness, nor do you have my sympathy. I hate you for what you have put my family through. I hate you for allowing me to lose my daughter, twice. I hate you for letting them drive away, for not being able to change their fate. However, I can empathise with your current situation; you have lost your child and thanks to you I know exactly how that feels. There is no punishment we can give that is worse than the pain of the loss of your child. I won't allow you to suffer alone though. You deserve to have family around you and, as much as I am loath to admit it, we are family. We can resolve this together.'

'Thank you Snow, for hating me, for not forgiving me, for reminding me of what we are. I do not think that I deserve forgiveness from anyone, least of all from you but I do hope that someday I will be able to once again earn your trust. I never intended for it to turn out this way, I wish that I knew how to change it.'

Charming who had been quietly watching the exchange between the two women cleared his throat to speak.

'I am sure that between us and with the help of the kingdom we will find a way to break this curse.'

At this Regina's face dropped once more, 'There is no curse; there is nothing for us to break.'

'What does that mean for Emma and Henry?' Snow asked quietly, trying to hold back another onslaught of tears.

'If we want to get them back it's going to require a lot of thought and trust. I know that none of you trust me right now but I hope that you trust how much I love my son and how dearly I want to return to him or have him return to me. I have an idea but I'm not even sure how to go about initiating it let alone whether it will work.'

Snow, Charming and Regina spent the next several hours with other members of the kingdom going over various ideas which might allow them contact with Emma and Henry. When the sun began to rise all involved realised that they had worked through the night but finally they had pulled together some semblance of a plan that just might work.

Charming looked at the faces of all those who had turned out to help to in trying to reunite Emma, Henry, Regina, Snow and himself. He smiled tiredly as he saw Regina talking animatedly to Grumpy while Happy gave Regina a bitter stink eye. It was going to take time for the kingdom to trust Regina however it was she who had worked out the logistics of everything that was to be done. She had admitted and accepted that it would take time and that the likelihood of her being reunited with her son within the next year was not high. She had sat stoically as people around the table had voiced their worries and complaints about having to work in such close quarters with the Evil Queen and had smiled gratefully when Charming had personally removed several attendees for their behaviour towards her. He, like Snow, had not forgiven Regina and was unlikely to forgive her in the near future but he knew that, unlike the curse, this separation was affecting her family as well as his. Their feud had to be put aside if they had any chance of getting their children back.

'I must return to my castle tonight,' Regina had finished talking to Grumpy and had directed her words to the King and Queen who were seated together at the top of the table.

'I cannot allow you to return to your castle alone Regina,' Snow White replied.

'Why? Are you worried that I might start without you? I'm sure you remember that I need you as much as you need me.'

Snow nodded her agreement, 'I'm sorry Regina. I did not mean to insinuate anything. I merely meant that we have no knowledge of how your castle has fared since we left the land 29 years ago. Please allow me to send the dwarfs with you; they will be able to aid you should you come across anything which requires assistance in dealing with.' Regina scoffed at this comment but Snow continued, 'If you do not need their help they can at least return here to inform us of whatever dangers you may have encountered. It wouldn't do to lose anyone else at this time.'

Regina nodded curtly; she was not yet used to being on the same side as Snow White and more often than not was prepared with a snarky response to anything the fair queen had to say. She reminded herself that she would have to be careful to pay attention to the way that Snow White spoke to her. The woman was not good at hiding her emotions and Regina would easily be able to tell what reaction was expected from her if she only listened to the tone of Snow's voice.

'I appreciate your kindness Your Highness, if any of the dwarfs are willing to travel with me I would be more than willing to give them somewhere to stay to rest and I will ensure to find something to feed them when we have all regained our strength.'

Grumpy, remembering the lasagne that he had tried the night that Snow and Emma had returned to Storybrooke all those weeks ago, was more than willing to return to the castle with the former Evil Queen. He was still wary of Regina and was not sure that he could trust her completely but he could see the pain that she felt at the loss of her son and he was also sure that he could see something else, something he had not recognised since his days as Dreamy. There was another glint of sadness in the former queen's eyes. Behind the love for her son there was a gleam for another loved one, it did not shine as brightly as her love for Henry, perhaps because it was not yet understood but Grumpy knew the signs of a love that could not be returned from the days he had spent looking at his own reflection. When he saw that vulnerability in the eyes of a woman he had always known to be strong, he knew that he would protect her in any way that she needed protecting and he would make sure that his fellow dwarfs did the same. No one deserved to be left alone, especially after returning to the realm that none of them had entered for 28 years. There was no way of knowing what dangers were waiting for them. If Emma and Snow's earlier experience was anything to go by there could be greater evils than they had ever previously known awaiting Regina at the castle.

**SQSQSQ**

As they pulled up outside the hotel Henry unclipped his seatbelt, flung the car door open and sprinted across the parking lot.

'Henry, careful with the bug, and please slow down.' Henry slowed his jog to a walk and hesitated, waiting for his mother to catch up with him. As Emma reached his side she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and smiled down at him.

'Do you remember which room we were in?'

'Yeah, one, oh, eight.'

Mother and son walked up to a well-dressed man at the reception desk.

'Welcome to Mifflin Manor Hotel, how can I help you today? Would you like to book a room?'

'Hi, actually we stayed here over the weekend, we just checked out this morning but my son thinks he left his DS charger in the room. Would it be possible to go up and take a look?'

'I'm afraid we can't let you go up there on your own since you've checked out.' Henry and Emma looked at each other and frowned. 'If you'd like to wait just a moment though, I will find someone who can take you up. Do you remember which room you were staying in?'

'Yes, it was one, oh, eight.'

'Oh good, housekeeping haven't got that far yet, so anything you left behind will still be there.' The elderly gentleman disappeared briefly into the back office. When he returned he was followed by a boy who couldn't have been any older than sixteen. He was wearing a similar suit to the old man however his gangly teenage body didn't fill the jacket out and it looked as though it were a size too large for him. The boy looked up from under a mop of blonde hair and waved awkwardly at the pair in front of him. 'I'm Michael. If you'd like to follow me, I'll take you up to the room.'

Emma pushed Henry forward and he obediently stepped in line behind Michael to follow him, Emma kept a hand on Henry's shoulder and smiled as the two boys made small talk all the way up to the room.

'So you've left your DS charger behind have you mate?' Michael asked.

'Yeah, I must have forgotten to pack it into my backpack when we were getting ready to leave.' Henry shrugged and looked over at his Mom who simply smiled and nodded her head. She'd put his DS charger in her purse so that they would actually 'find' something when they got into the room. She didn't want the hotel staff to laugh when they got into the room and found nothing there. There was a part of her that was convinced that they would find something but she knew that it was impossible. She'd triple checked the room when they left. They hadn't left anything behind.

Emma listened as the boys began talking about all the games that Henry had for his various consoles. She knew that she spoiled him but their apartment was small and inexpensive and there were only two mouths to feed so she spent every extra penny she had on Henry. They had rules though; he had to have completed all of his homework and all of his chores before he was allowed anywhere near any of his games systems or the TV and he was only allowed to be in front of the TV for 2 hours a day. He knew that he had to choose carefully between film nights and gaming nights but he also knew that if he sweetened his mother up enough he'd manage to squeeze in an extra half hour before she turned the TV off. He was a good kid, they rarely argued, he ate all his greens and he still allowed her to tuck him in at night. He had always made her feel whole. Today was different though, her love for her son wasn't any less but she felt like there was something missing in her life. Something important.

Something obvious.

Something that she hadn't even thought about until she saw the face in the rear view mirror.

It had definitely been a face; someone had definitely been there, standing behind the car. Emma had had a difficult childhood and that meant that if she ever started to believe in anything she held onto that belief with all that she had. When she was eleven she had believed that there was something bigger out there. Not a god, but something just as far beyond human comprehension. She believed that there was always someone looking out for her. That belief had stayed with her until she had Henry when she was eighteen. When he had arrived she had believed that she no longer needed someone to look after her because she had someone to look after. Since the day Henry was born Emma hadn't had that feeling that she was being watched over until that very morning as she and her son were driving back from Mifflin Manor Hotel. It was that feeling that had allowed her to let Henry sway her decision and drive back to the hotel, it was a belief that there was a reason to go back.

Michael let the pair into the room and waited outside the door. Henry dashed in and began looking through the drawers and the wardrobe to see if he could find anything that would explain his confusion and his belief that he had left something behind.

Emma pulled the pillows back and shook out the bed sheets before she looked at her son in defeat.

'Sorry kid, I guess we were wrong, I think it's time to get back on the road.'

Henry was about to give up and follow his mother out of the room when he saw it. Poking out from under the bed he had stayed in, barely visible, was a book. He tugged the book out from under the bed and turned it over in his hands. It was a large leather bound book which looked like it had been read a thousand times. The pages were thick and heavy and yellowing at the edges. The front cover was beautifully engraved with the words Once Upon A Time.

**SQSQSQ**

Four of the seven dwarfs had agreed to travel with Regina to her castle and happily accepted the food and beds that she provided for them once they arrived. Unable to sleep Regina had chosen to take the first steps towards helping Henry and Emma to find out who they really were. Unbeknownst to most in the kingdom Regina was the owner of a magic mirror which she was able to use to both see into other realms and to travel into them if she so wished. It had been agreed that in order to make the transition as easy as possible no one could reveal themselves to Emma and Henry outright. The journey towards them regaining their memories was to be long and arduous. Everyone involved in the meeting had acknowledged that Henry was likely to believe far more easily than Emma because, despite not knowing it any longer, he was still the owner of the heart of the truest believer. Because of this tiny fact it would be too much of a risk to be seen by him; if his memories were jolted too quickly they ran two risks: the first was that the shock of seeing someone from his past would jog his memories so much that he would become a blank slate and would lose even the memories that Regina had provided him with. The second was that he would believe and remember but that Emma would not. Everyone was already aware of how much it had taken for Emma to believe the first time and even then she had needed the power of true love's kiss. They could not run the risk of Henry feeling lost and confused about who he was and where the rest of his family was if Emma did not believe.

Before Emma and Henry had got into the bug Regina had told them that the fairy tale characters would simply go back to being stories; this was true in that world however in the Fairy Tale Land their stories would continue to play out. That was where their plan started.

Regina was to enchant a fairy tale book, _the _fairy tale book. She had found the book on a shelf in her library among other books that she had loved as a child. In her youth it had been filled with stories of love and honour, she was now tasked with rewriting the book to tell their stories. Each page should read exactly as it had when Henry had owned the book in Storybrooke however there was one more story that Regina had been asked to write. She had been asked to write the story of Henry and Emma. Not the story that she had written for them in order to equip them fully for the 'real' world but the story of their time in Storybrooke. She was not however allowed to use their names in the stories and any pictures that she included were not to reveal their faces. The enchantment Regina was to place on the book would mean that as Emma and Henry got closer to regaining their memories any pictures of them would turn slightly until finally, when their memories were fully returned, their own faces would shine back at them from the pages of Henry's book.

Regina knew that the first part was the easiest part because after that they were to find subtle ways of seeping knowledge of Fairy Tale Land into Emma and Henry's heads without overwhelming them with information. For Regina though writing their story would be the hardest part. She had to write the story of adopting Henry, of raising him, of loving him more than she had loved anything in all of her life. She then had to write the story of the days that he pulled away from her, the days that he called her the Evil Queen and finally the day that he ran away and brought the infuriating blonde haired woman into her life. After that day she had to write out the fights that she and Emma had shared over who Henry belonged to, she had to write about the pain of nearly losing her son to Peter Pan while knowing that this time there was every chance she had lost her child forever. There was no way of knowing that their plan would work. She needed it to for so many reasons. The most obvious one was because she needed Henry back to feel whole again. Without Henry, Regina felt like her heart had been pulled from her chest. Everyone around the table at the meeting had believed that it was for Henry that she needed this plan to work. However, Regina was the only one who had seen the vision when she had taken hold of the scroll for only the second time in her life. In that moment her past, her present and several futures had flashed before her eyes. There was one that could have killed her, one which filled her with only the happiest feelings and there was one that scared her to death but if she could have made a wish in that moment it was that her future would be the third one. She didn't have the courage at that moment to admit to herself, let alone anyone else, what the third future was but she knew that it was the one she was aiming for. The only trouble was she had no idea how to achieve it.

After she had written the final story for the book Regina was to send it through the looking glass and hope that it would arrive somewhere that Emma or Henry would find it. To them it would be nothing more than a children's book but the hope was that it would slowly begin to mean something to them and would one day bring them back to their lives in the Enchanted Forest. Regina seemed to be the only one who remembered that Emma and Henry had no 'life in the Enchanted Forest' to return to. Once they got their memories back, if they got their memories, back they would have two lives. Both would share the memories of their twelve years together as mother and son however Henry would also regain the memories of his twelve years as the only child who grew up and Emma would regain the memory that she had given Henry up. For both Swans, for that was what they had become, these real memories would be painful and Regina didn't want to be the one to return these memories to them. The selfish part of her however couldn't bear the idea of living the rest of her life in the Enchanted Forest without her son and a part of her didn't want to be away from the blonde for any longer either.

Still unable to sleep despite all the reading and writing she had gone through Regina made the decision to write to Emma and Henry. She had promised herself that once she returned to the Enchanted Forest she would become a better person and when Henry and Emma once again knew who they were she wanted them to see the changes she had gone through. She wanted both of them to be able to experience her experience of becoming a new her, or perhaps she should say the old her. She wanted to be the Regina that she was before Daniel had been taken from her all those years ago. She knew she could never be the very same young woman she was however she hoped that she would be able to balance her dark heart with the good that she was now willing to do.

_Darling Henry,_

_I miss you more than you could know. It hasn't yet been a full day since I watched you and Emma drive away but these last hours have taught me that the next days, weeks and possibly months are going to be the hardest I will have lived through in my life. You are everything. I have forgotten who I am without you and honestly I don't want to be reminded. Your grandmother has been kind enough to allow me freedom to move around the Enchanted Forest as I wish. I think she knows that I wouldn't do anything to jeopardise my chances of finding a way back to you._

_I feel as though I have never truly apologised for what I put you through. I cannot say that I apologise for casting the curse all those years ago because without it I would never have found you. However I do wish to apologise for the sort of mother that I was. I promised myself that I would never become my mother and I worry that in many ways I was unable to live up to that promise. I should never have tried to keep you away from Emma; she has shown time and time again that she is a worthy mother, perhaps worthier than I. My reasoning seems futile now but I thought that she was going to take you away from me and I knew that I couldn't live without you._

_I hope that the two of you will have a happy life together until we are able to find a way to bring you both back to us. I will always see myself as your mother Henry and I hope that one day __when__ if you regain your memories you will still think of me in that capacity. I know now that Emma will also always be your mother and I promise that I will never try to take her away from you again._

_I love you my darling son._

_Mom x_

_Dear Emma,_

_I'm sorry and thank you._

_Regina_

**SQSQSQ**

Henry nearly bumped into the back of his mother in his attempt to dash out of the hotel room.

'What's that buddy?' Emma asked eyeing the book her son held in a white-knuckled grip.

'It's my fairy tale book Ma, you know the one I've had since I was tiny. I forgot I brought it with me; it must have fallen out of my backpack. It's just as well we came back to look!' Emma gave her son a confused look wondering why on earth he had brought the book with him when it had spent the last 4 years sitting ignored on the bookshelf in their apartment.

'I found your DS charger as well so I guess we can make the journey home without having to turn around this time?'

'Yep! Thanks for letting us into the room Michael.' Henry gave the teenager a toothy grin and ran off down the stairs towards the hotel lobby. Emma walked with Michael to the lobby and thanked him with a nod before she took her son by the shoulders and ushered him back to the car.

Once they were safely back on the road and both the car and its passengers were fuelled up, Emma turned to her son.

'How come you took your fairy tale book with us, kid?'

'I'm not too sure, I'd forgotten that I took it but I guess I just felt like we haven't spent much time together lately what with your job and my school days and stuff. We always used to have the best times when we read the stories in this book. I remember pretending that you were Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter and that the Evil Queen had kidnapped me because I was the grandson of her biggest enemies. I guess I just missed our pretend games and the fun we used to have before we both got so busy.' Henry shrugged his shoulders and looked out of the window watching the world pass by at speed.

'I'm sorry buddy, I know I've been busy lately. That's what this weekend was supposed to be about; you and me against the world.' Emma smiled sadly at her son.

'I had a really great weekend Ma, I just wish that we didn't have to travel so far away from your work to be able to spend time together without interruption.'

'I know bud, me too. I'll tell you what, how about for the next month as soon as you're home from school my phone and laptop go off until you go to bed and we can do the things we always used to do together. We'll build a fort and make popcorn and curl up with your book and play all the pretend games we used to play. That's if you don't think you're getting too big for playing pretend?' She reached over and ruffled her son's hair.

'Pretend games are okay sometimes, just as long as you don't tell all my friends?'

'I can't promise anything kid.'

'Maaaaa!' The boy whined and pouted at his mother who simply poked the protruding lips and laughed.

There was silence in the car for a while as mother and son simply enjoyed each other's company.

'Ma?'

'Yeah kid?'

'What happens after the month is up?'

'I guess we'll just take a look at the time we've spent together and see if we're happier for it and if my work has suffered. If I'm still getting paid enough and we haven't tried to kill each other then maybe we can make phones off after 4pm a permanent rule?'

'I'd like that.'

'Me too, Henry, me too.' Emma sighed wistfully; she was going to have to work twice as hard during the day if she was really going to be able to stick to this new rule. She was determined not to lose the trust and the friendship that she and Henry had though and would try anything to maintain the joy that they both felt from spending time together.

Later that night as Emma was cooking dinner Henry came running into the kitchen.

'Ma! How come you never read me the last one?'

'The last what?' Emma looked up from stirring the pasta and Henry thrust the book under her nose.

'The last fairy tale of course.'

'We have read that book so many times Henry, I can assure that I have read you every single fairy tale more than 50 times.'

'Well then where did this one come from?' Henry began to read 'Once upon a time, there was a queen and she cast a glorious curse that gave her everything she wanted. Or so she thought. She despaired when she learned that revenge was not enough. She was lonely and so she searched the land for a little boy to be her prince and then she found him and though they lived happily it was not ever after. There was still an evil out there lurking. The queen was worried for her prince's safety; while she knew she could vanquish any threat to the boy she also knew she couldn't raise him worrying. No, she needed to put her own troubles aside and put her child first, and so the queen procured an ancient potion of forgetting. Don't worry, if the queen drinks the potion she won't forget her child she will only forget her worries, her troubles, her fears. And with those gone, she and her prince can indeed finally live happily ever after.' Henry stopped reading as he smelled the burning in the air. 'Ma! The pasta!'

Emma who had been completely entranced by the story jumped as Henry's panicked voice registered in her brain. She looked at the pan which was now a mess of burned pasta because all the water had evaporated while Henry had read. 'Oh shi- I mean shoot. I guess we're getting pizza for dinner then,' Emma grabbed her cell from the counter and turned back to Henry 'Kid why don't you go and check the bookshelf? I think you might have picked up someone else's copy of that book. It seems like it's a newer version because we have definitely not read that story before.' Henry nodded and disappeared from the room. 'I would have remembered' Emma mumbled to herself.


End file.
